538th Comes In

PHU TA I (538th Engineer Company (LC)) 

     After working out in the jungle for the last three and a half months, the men of the 538th are in for a well deserved rest.   During that time they were attached to the 173rd ABN BDE located at LZ English.
     From the first day that they arrived, the men started right in to work clearing the land and rooting out Charlie's hiding places.  A burm of dirt was pushed up around an area and this will be their camp.  At the same time the dozers are at work clearing as much as they can away from the burm before night sets in.
     One of the noted things about the 538th is that they never stay in an area very long.  They will usually move to another area once every week or two.    This tearing down the Road Camp and setting it up again is a lot of extra work on the part of all the men but they do it without ever thinking about it.   During this last project they only moved five times plus coming back here for the stand down.
     The hours are long and hard, and the living conditions are quite miserable at times, especially during these monsoons.  Each day is started with two hours of motor stables to get the equipment in shape for the day.  Then out in the jungle they go with their dozer's, sometimes it is almost dark before they return.    On Sunday's the whole day is spent working on the equipment making repairs if necessary.  All they have to live in are tents and during the monsoons, life can get pretty wet and uncomfortable.  Keeping personal items dry is almost an impossibility, but the men learn to put up with these little inconveniences. 
     The danger was always around them but the men never let this interfere with the work that they were doing.  Booby traps were a common thing but fortunately no one was hurt seriously.  At night the enemy was spotted roaming around outside the perimeter of the burm, but infantry security had everything under control.
     After going through all of this, the men are well deserving of a rest.  But stand down is not all that much of a rest period for the men have to work on their equipment to get it ready for the next project.  They work regular hours daily in the motor pool changing blades, oil, etc. on their equipment.  But after living out in the field for so long the men look forward to the stand down.

Published Article Links:

538th Comes In

Highway  QL-14      '69

Van Canh      '69

Long Binh               '70

Highway QL-19       '70

Tam Quan District

An Khe Pass            '71

Duc My                    '71